Malaysia
Cluster Munition Ban Policy
Summary
Non-signatoryMalaysia adopted the Convention on Cluster Munitions in 2008, but has not taken any steps to join it. It last participated in a meeting of the convention in 2014. Malaysia voted in favor of a key United Nations (UN) resolution promoting the convention in December 2021.
Malaysia states that it does not produce cluster munitions and has never used them. It may have acquired cluster munitions, but has not shared any information on the types or quantities in its possession.
Policy
Malaysia has not acceded to the Convention on Cluster Munitions.
Malaysia has acknowledged the humanitarian rationale for the convention but has not taken any steps to accede to it, except for holding stakeholder consultations.[1]
Malaysia participated throughout the Oslo Process that created the convention and expressed its support for a complete prohibition on cluster munitions, without exceptions. It joined in the consensus adoption of the convention text at the end of the Dublin negotiations in May 2008, but did not attend the Signing Conference in Oslo in December 2008.[2]
Malaysia last participated as an observer at a meeting of the convention in September 2014.[3] It was invited to, but did not attend, the convention’s Second Review Conference held in November 2020 and September 2021.
In December 2021, Malaysia voted in favor of a key United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) resolution urging states outside the Convention on Cluster Munitions to “join as soon as possible.”[4] Malaysia has voted in favor of the UNGA resolution promoting the convention since it was first introduced in 2015.
Malaysia has voted in favor of UNGA resolutions condemning use of cluster munitions in Syria.[5] In 2015, Malaysia voted in favor of a Security Council resolution expressing concern at use of cluster munitions by the government of Sudan.[6]
Malaysia is a State Party to the Mine Ban Treaty. It is not party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW).
Use, production, transfer, and stockpiling
In September 2011, a government official said that Malaysia does not use or produce cluster munitions.[7]
Officials have not denied that Malaysia may possess a stockpile of cluster munitions.[8]
Malaysia has received ASTROS II multi-barrel rocket launchers from Brazil, but it is not known whether these include payloads containing submunitions.[9] Malaysia is also reported to possess the Hydra-70 air-to-surface unguided rocket system, but it is not known if the ammunition types available to it include the M261 multi-purpose submunition rocket.[10]
[1] In September 2012, Malaysia informed States Parties that the government was “in consultation with relevant stakeholders with the view to studying the possibility of Malaysia acceding to the Convention.” This repeated a statement made in September 2011 that described the consultations as “a continuous and on-going process.” Both the 2011 and 2012 statements concluded, “we hope Malaysia will be able to join the Convention in the near future.” Statement of Malaysia, Convention on Cluster Munitions Third Meeting of States Parties, Oslo, 11 September 2012; and statement by Mr. Raja Reza Raja Zaib Shah, Undersecretary for Multilateral Security, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Head of Malaysian Delegation, Convention on Cluster Munitions Second Meeting of States Parties, Beirut, 14 September 2011.
[2] For details on Malaysia’s policy and practice regarding cluster munitions through early 2010, see ICBL, Cluster Munition Monitor 2010 (Ottawa: Mines Action Canada, October 2010), p. 227.
[3] Malaysia participated as an observer at the convention’s Meetings of States Parties in 2011–2013, as well as at intersessional meetings in 2011 and 2014. However, it did not attend the First Review Conference in Dubrovnik, Croatia in September 2015.
[4] “Implementation of the Convention on Cluster Munitions,” UNGA Resolution 76/47, 6 December 2021.
[5] “Situation of human rights in the Syrian Arab Republic,” UNGA Resolution 73/182, 17 December 2018. Malaysia voted in favor of similar UNGA resolutions in 2013–2017 but abstained from voting in 2019–2020.
[6] In the resolution’s preamble, the Security Council expressed “concern at evidence, collected by AU-UN Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID), of two air-delivered cluster bombs near Kirigiyati, North Darfur, taking note that UNAMID disposed of them safely, and reiterating the Secretary-General’s call on the Government of Sudan to immediately investigate the use of cluster munitions.” Security Council, “Prioritizing Civilian Protection, Drawdown Benchmarks, Security Council Adopts Resolution 2228 (2015) Renewing Mandate of Darfur Mission until 30 June 2016,” 29 June 2015.
[7] Cluster Munition Coalition (CMC) side meeting with delegates from Southeast Asia, Convention on Cluster Munitions Second Meeting of States Parties, Beirut, 15 September 2011. Notes by the CMC.
[8] On 18 March 2009, Human Rights Watch (HRW) wrote to the Malaysian Minister of Foreign Affairs to ask if Malaysia possessed a stockpile of cluster munitions following a news article in Berita Harian Online that included an undated photo showing a member of the Royal Malaysian Air Force with a CB-250K cluster bomb produced by Chile. The accompanying caption indicated that the soldier was offering an explanation of the weapon’s function and suggested the weapon was part of the air force’s arsenal. HRW did not receive a response. However, Malaysian officials told the Monitor in March 2010 that the government sent a reply stating that the cluster bomb in the photo was only a mock version. Interview with Ministry of Defense officials, Kuala Lumpur, 12 March 2010. One official noted that he had previously asked a CMC campaigner why Malaysia was not on the CMC list of countries that stockpile cluster munitions.
[9] Brazil, UN Register of Conventional Arms, Submission for Calendar Year 2002, 28 April 2004. Brazil reported the transfer of 12 launch units, and the Arms Transfers Database of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) notes that the US$300 million deal was signed in 2007 and deliveries began in 2009; and Brazil, UN Register of Conventional Arms, Submission for Calendar Year 2009, 7 June 2010. In this report, Brazil reports the transfer of one ASTROS launcher.
[10] Colin King, ed., Jane’s Explosive Ordnance Disposal 2007–2008, CD-edition, (Surrey: Jane’s Information Group, January 2008).
Mine Ban Policy
Policy
Malaysia signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 3 December 1997 and ratified it on 22 April 1999, becoming a State Party on 1 October 2009. Legislation to enforce the antipersonnel mine prohibition domestically took effect on 25 June 2000.
Malaysia attends some meetings of the treaty, most recently the Seventeenth Meeting of States Parties in Geneva in November 2018, where it did not provide a statement. Malaysia did not attend the intersessional meetings in Geneva in May 2019, nor did it previously attend the Third Review Conference in Maputo in June 2014.
Malaysia submitted its sixth Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 report on 3 May 2006. Malaysia submitted subsequent annual reports through 2014, but they consisted only of a cover page.
Malaysia served as co-rapporteur and then co-chair of the Standing Committee on Stockpile Destruction from 1999–2001.
Malaysia is not party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons, nor is it party to the Convention on Cluster Munitions.
Production, use, stockpiling, and destruction
Malaysia has never used, produced, or exported antipersonnel mines. According to defense officials, the Communist Party of Malaya (CPM) rebels used to manufacture “booby traps” from the 1950s and the 1980s. These were jointly cleared by the rebel and government forces after negotiations were successfully conducted in December 1989.[1]
Mine supplies, including Claymore mines, were bought from the United Kingsom and the United States (US).[2] Malaysia acquired 88,278 M18 and M18A1 Claymore mines from the US between 1969 and 1978.[3]
Malaysia completed destruction of its stockpile of 94,721 mines on 23 January 2001, well in advance of its October 2003 treaty-mandated deadline. Malaysia chose not to retain any mines for training or development purposes.
[1] Interview with Commander Razali bin Md. Ali, Mr. Iskandar bin Dato’ Mohd Kaus and Major Abdullah bin Mustaffa, 8 February 1999.
[2] Ibid.
[3] US Army, Armament, Munitions, and Chemical Command (USAMCCOM), Letter to Human Rights Watch, 25 August 1993, and attached statistical tables, provided under the Freedom of Information Act.